If we're judging 2014 in peaks and troughs, March falls under neither. It's been a goo...

Month In Review: March 2014

19:36:00
Phill Walker
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If we're judging 2014 in peaks and troughs, March falls under neither.

It's been a good solid month for new arrivals, album releases, killer tracks and we even heard a decent cover version, thanks to Tame Impala. Most notably though, we've had some of our most anticipated returns come true this month, so let's not waste any further time and get down to the nitty gritty...

Single of the Month

The best track from this month could have easily gone to a whole host of popular characters - at least in our determination of popular. There was Ms Li's "No Rest For The Wicked", Mr Khan's "Youth" and Merchandise's "Figured Out", but above all these shone Liverpool's multi-national newcomers All We Are and their blend of funky, new-wave tinged indie-pop. If Chaz Bundick were to make a track with George Lewis Jr of Twin Shadow, it would go a little like "Feel Safe"...

Album of the Month

This month was always going to a tight one and to be honest, it was only ever going to be between two releases; Future Islands' Singles and Perfect Pussy's Say Yes To Love. People who read One For The People on a regular basis will know we have an immense magnetism towards anything Samuel T. Herring and on this occasion, it's not going to be any different. Perfect Pussy's debut was outstanding - yes really, it was - on a whole host of levels, but Future Islands' move to 4AD seems to have raised their bar a few notches and Singles is without an inch of doubt, our album of the month.

Other Notable Happenings

Once again March has been a month of returns. Lykke Li had been teasing us something rotten prior to dropping the horrendously titled "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone" at the start of March - then teased a bit more before unveiling "No Rest For The Wicked". Merchandise "Figured Out" their plans for Record Store Day and Ben Khan, once more, demonstrated how increasingly relevant he is with, "Youth".

Other than those more "hyped" acts, we also saw the return of Gothenburg's School, LA's Heathers and Katy Goodman's La Sera. Probably the most exciting return of the month is that of Justin Vallesteros' Craft Spells - It feels like a couple of years since we last heard them and shit, it was. Needless to say, the mouthful that is "Breaking The Angle Against The Tide" shows progression and expansion of the band's sound, plus their incorporation of strings is a master stroke.

Best Newcomers

I've got to say, so far this year, all the best breaking acts have been British and this month hasn't really been much different. All We Are, Sun Machine, Tropic of Youth, Fans and Slows Down all showing their worth (in varied ways) to the apparently dire, "guitar music" "scene".